Feeling a Little Bit Inspired

For the first time in a while, I'm finally starting to feel inspired/motivated about running. There have been a lot of races in the past few weeks and I have been reading about them through the various bloggers I follow and all their amazing stories of accomplishment.

Erica ran her first 5k just a week or two ago. It's been a pretty long time since I've run a 5k race. If I remember correctly, the last one I ran with my cousin and a few of her friends was at Queeny Park and it rained the whole time. I don't even know what my time was. Probably not great.

The New York City Marathon was canceled due to Sandy and many of the marathoners found other races in the New England area to join in on. Ali and a few of her friends ran the Manchester City Marathon and reading about her experience and seeing all the photos from the race was really cool. They're all so happy and proud of their accomplishments, and overall, they're just happy they got to race at all after NYCM was canceled.

After reading all this, plus others and their excitement for upcoming races, I keep thinking to myself I want to experience a 5k again. I want to run a half marathon next year. And maybe a marathon in the future. 

I want those things. I want to remember how amazing it feels to cross a finish line. I mentioned my reasons for not racing this year in a few previous posts, and a primary one was money. The St. Louis Rock and Roll half marathon that I wanted to run ended up being really expensive. It would have cost me over $100 to run it. And I just didn't have that kind of money earlier this year. I still don't really.

But I've found some shorter races later this year (5 and 10ks) that aren't too expensive, and a half marathon/half marathon relay in March that won't cost me over $90, even if I wait until the day of to register. I'm thinking I can make that one work. Now I just need to start training. Or just running in general.

I'm going to pick up my new car in Stl tomorrow (SO EXCITED!), but I want to try to either get a run in before I leave, or do one while I'm up there. Actually, I'll probably do one while I'm up there since I'll know my way around.

I've also added a Garmin Forerunner 110 to my Christmas list. I'm pretty certain I won't be getting one because they're pretty expensive, but ya never know.

What kind of watches/devices/gps do you guys use when you're running/training? I want something that won't be extremely expensive, but is still useful. And not something too big or bulky. That will drive me nuts. Do you have any future races planned? What kind of training programs do you use?